I just woke up from a nap. I had the strangest dream. I dreamt that Lee encouraged me to get a job with a cruise line. In the dream, I applied to several cruise lines, got a response from Holland America Line, had several interviews and they hired me to be a Travel Guide in Alaska. This was one of those dreams that seemed so real when you woke up. In my dream, I left for Alaska with little notice. With the help of many strangers I found my way onboard the ship and got settled in my own cabin. I spoke on stage in front of hundreds of passengers every day about topics I never even heard about. Many times I was in the Bridge with the Captain of the ship as we sailed into glacier and fjord parks that are hundreds of thousands of miles in shape. Passengers had come from all over the world to see these sights and I was narrating the story with a cup of coffee in one hand, a script in the other while the crew navigated us through these waters. But this was a long dream. I did many things during the dream. I was on helicopters, floatplanes, Kayaks, and 4 wheel drive vehicles landing on glaciers, having a salmon lunch BBQ’d outside with 4 bears licking off the grill and playing in the trees and standing next to waterfalls that were as tall as the Empire State Building with delicious, sweet and cold water that had been frozen for 150 years. I was part of a 600 person crew from more than 30 countries. We worked 7 days a week, up to 14 hours a day. The days flew by so fast that in my dream, I thought I was dreaming. I was very lonely for a best friend on board but I did finally make some new friendships and enjoyed laughing and talking with several people every day. We got pretty close and I was sad to say goodbye to them. The dream went by so fast but in real time it lasted 2 months. I was not happy to come home from the cruise ship in Alaska. I had just started to feel comfortable and not lonely. Just before I woke up, I was on an airplane. It took a long time to get home from Alaska. Through several time zones. But when I woke up, I was in bed in my home in Boynton Beach. There are 3 suitcases still unpacked. I have hundreds of pictures on my computer from Alaska and I am going to another ship at the end of August. That was a wild dream. It felt so real. I wrote this on the plane this afternoon. When I got home at 1am, there was a note on my counter. It was from my Aunt Ida. She went food shopping for me and loaded the fridge. That was no dream. That is reality. There is only one Aunt Ida. I will always love her and never forget that treat. Thank you Ida and thank YOU for reading my blog and encouraging me every day. Your love kept me alive.
